Top Albums of 2025
- giedriuss
- Dec 22, 2025
- 7 min read
Metal Archives lists 8425 full-length albums released in 2025, a staggering amount compared to just 439 released in 1995. We haven’t listened to every new release, but we tried hard and now offer our carefully dissected Top 10s.
Top 10 of 2025 - Mindaugas Lapinskas:
10. Dirkschneider & The Old Gang "Babylon"
For this project Udo Dirkschneider teamed up with original ACCEPT members Stefan Kaufman, Peter Baltes, also Mathias Dieth (U.D.O.. Sinner), as well as Udo's son Sven on drums and female singer Manuela Bibert. This year they have released their debut album "Babylon" which is a must for all ACCEPT and U.D.O. fans! Everybody involved sure as hell know how to deliver melodic, catchy Heavy Metal with memorable hooks and choruses that beg you to join in. There's lots of variation here, from energetic fist pumpers to melodic, slower tracks, all rocking Heavy Metal bases are covered! Top class!
9. SIJJIN "Helljjin Combat"
I was totally hooked on this German-Basque trio since their demo "Angel of the Eastern Gate" which came out in 2019 and their debut album "Sumerian Promises" continued in the same direction of (old) MORBID ANGEL worship with an Eastern twist. "Helljjin Combat" displays somewhat more technical thrashing here but still retains darkened Death Metal atmosphere. It was recorded live in studio, the production is powerful and clear sounding, while riffs are attacking mercilessly along countless tempo changes, twists and turns.
8. HIRAX "Faster Than Death"
HIRAX led by Katon W. de Pena exists almost since the beginning of Thrash metal,
but "Faster Than Death" is only their 6th full-length album and what a fuckin killer! Fast, short, intense with simple but catchy as fuck riffs, this is Thrash on steroids with a strong dose of Crossover. Katon assembled a good team for this album (which since then left him). Neil Metcalf (guitars/bass) wrote pretty much everything here, so you might want to check his other band REGIMENT as well, and Dan Walker (drums, D.R.I.) drives this juggernaut full speed ahead. No fat, just pure muscle. Short and intense, led by unmistakable Katon vocals, "Faster Than Death" is pure energy!
7. BIOHAZARD "Divided We Fall"
I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. To my big surprise BIOHAZARD came back fully revitalized and firing on full power! Short, punchy tracks with the energy levels reaching up to "Urban Discipline" delivered in the pure BIOHAZARD style. Yeah, this isn't groundbreaking musically, but they sound really pissed off and sometimes this is just the music I need. They didn't rush into making this album and played many shows to get really tight and test a couple new tracks, so this attitude has paid off and resulted in this killer album!
6. VIOLATOR "Unholy Retribution"
Brazilian death/thrash at it's best! VIOLATOR has formed in 2002 and "Unholy Retribution" is only their 3rd album, coming after 12 years' gap since the last one "Scenarios of Brutality", meaning these guys prefer quality over quantity. And you get pure thrashing aggression in the vein of old Kreator/Sepultura/Slayer done just right - fast, frenetic drumming, great riffs, insane vocals and mature compositions, which don't get boring after a few listens. In a sea of Thrash Metal albums, "Unholy Retribution" stands out and drives the competition into the ground this year, including some of the veterans. 9 tracks of unbridled Death/Thrash aggression!!
5. WINO "Create or Die"
Very powerful solo album by WINO mixing so many different styles - from acoustic doom, to desert rock, stoner and biker rock with bluesy overtones. Despite that it feels very cohesive and flowing with unmistakable Wino voice delivering poetry of life's wisdom. Some of the rockier, energetic tracks could be from THE OBSESSED's "Gilded Sorrow" which made into my last year's Top 10, so I'm happy about that, but they are well balanced with moodier songs driven by more laid back riffs, acoustic-electric interplay and some banjo for a nice spice.
4. DISFUNERAL "In Horror, Reborn"
I just discovered DISFUNERAL this year when they released their second album "In Horror, Reborn" which is a total masterpiece of AUTOPSY and NIHILIST style of putrid death metal done just fucking right! They're moving between fast outbursts to mid-paced choking drive wrapped in a crunching and rotten sound and the songs are killer. These guys know how write fucking primal, infectious riffs and mold them into gut wrenching tracks inducing uncontrollable headbanging frenzy!
3. MIDNIGHT "Steel, Rust and Disgust"
This is a perfect drinking and hell raising party record! Here MIDNIGHT fires up with the covers of Ohio bands that most people never heard of and make them sound like MIDNIGHT, which makes me want to go and check them out. It's a pure rock'n'rolling punk metal bonanza. "Cleveland Metal" and "Steel, Rust and Disgust" are two original tracks here which perfectly fit into the whole shebang.
2. SACRIFICE "Volume 6"
After 16 years since their last album, SACRIFICE - still retaining their original line-up, which commands the biggest respect - delivered face melting, thrashing assault soaked in the 80's spirit. I've been listening to this for a couple months non-stop when it came out, they haven't lost their hunger for aggressive Thrash Metal, the whole SACRIFICE machine is well-oiled in 2025, the songs are well-composed, violent attacks of metallic power with varying tempos and savage riffs to keep me blasting this album again and again!
1. THE YOUNG GODS "Appear Disappear"
I was captivated by Switzerland's THE YOUNG GODS since "T.V. Sky" album from 1991, it was ingrained deeply into my brain. Very rhythmic, pulsating with energy and dark, hypnotic at the same time. They use samplers as the main instruments interspersed with guitar stabs and live drums and vocals, thus creating a truly unique sound and crafting original songs. In the broad sense one can describe it as Electronic/Industrial but it encompasses much more shifting musical forms. After all these years and many albums in between, THE YOUNG GODS sound still as powerful and captivating. "Appear Disappear" just got under my skin and I was coming to it more than to any other albums this year, it just takes me on an diverse musical journey. Amazing album, the best of 2025!
Top 10 of 2025 - Giedrius Slivinskas:
10. CRYPTOSIS "Celestial Death"
https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/album/celestial-death-24-bit-hd-audio
The sophomore album of this young Dutch trio seamlessly melts progressive, thrash, black, and death metal into one whole, spiced up with lush atmosphere provided by layers of synths. Their heroes are not easy to pinpoint, but stylistically their music resides in the territory of Coroner, Vektor, Dark Tranquillity, At The Gates, and Dissection, which is very solid company.
9. DEAFHAVEN "Lonely People With Power"
https://open.spotify.com/album/5Eh3xMVdGFAUiYwuoPOzXc
This San Francisco band has been playing metal in somewhat unexpected ways since its 2013 critically acclaimed sophomore album "Sunbather". Their latest opus is a bit unexpectedly heavy in its cocktail of blackgaze, post metal, and alternative metal.
8. LORNA SHORE "I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me"
https://lornashore.bandcamp.com/album/i-feel-the-everblack-festering-within-me-24-bit-hd-audio
To say that their name has been popping up for quite a number of years would be an understatement, yet I only started to pay attention after seeing their memorable performance at Tuska 2022. With "Pain Remains" (2022) and this new album, I am convinced (and converted) that Lorna Shore are evolving metal forward in its diversity of subgenres. The album storms with dystopian symphonic deathcore, nuanced walls of sound, with extraordinary vocal delivery and drumming.
7. MESSA "The Spin"
https://messa.bandcamp.com/album/the-spin
Italian doom metal offers their fourth full-length album which is a compact work of doom metal in haunting dark and gothic style, with elements of progressive rock and jazz, yet remaining easy on the listener like Black Sabbath or Ghost.
6. WINGS OF STEEL "Winds of Time"
https://officialwingsofsteel.bandcamp.com/album/winds-of-time
Very traditional in the metal sense, this album possesses our cherished purity of heavy metal with soaring vocals and melodic screaming guitars reminding of early Queensryche/Lethal/Riot/Crimson Glory/Iron Maiden. It is only the second album by this Los Angeles band, and it will be interesting to see how they grow in the future.
5. PSYCHONAUT "World Maker"
https://psychonautband.bandcamp.com/album/world-maker
From Belgium which is one of the homes of post metal, Psychonaut strikes with their third album of moody and flowing progressive post metal which sounds richer with every listen.
4. ASTRONOID "Stargod"
https://open.spotify.com/album/1FImx4muj0n0HZO14X5blQ
One of the more unique metal bands from Massachusetts, which started with "dream thrash" in 2016, now returned with their fourth album, perhaps their most accessible to date, mixing dreamy shoegaze metal with 80s synths rock. Astronoid sound innovative and fresh without being overly avantgarde, eclectic or off-the-wall, and their latest album has a strong focus on melody and hooks, comparable to rock bands like Mew, Muse or more metal counterparts like Vola.
3. UNPROCESSED "Angel"
https://unprocessed.bandcamp.com/album/angel
With their 2022 album "Gold", the German band ventured into lighter and accessible direction, then "And Everything in Between" moved to a rather dark and heavy territory. Their new album builds on the previous one's foundation, yet it is more varied and overall better-rounded. It delivers progressive and technical metalcore with great qualities in every song, at times raw, but often very melodic, diverse and accessible for all kinds of crossover audiences, along with a healthy dose of innovation and experimentation.
2. IHLO "Legacy"
https://ihlo.bandcamp.com/album/legacy
This London progressive metal band took six years to complete the follow-up to their debut album, and what a hell of a follow-up it is. "Legacy" is very cohesive and has everything: hooks, depth, and complexity. With this album, Ihlo make a very strong statement to join the league of most well-known modern prog metal bands like Leprous, Haken, Tesseract, VOLA, and Caligula's Horse. Musically, it's an amalgam of lighter Tesseract with slices of later atmospheric sides of Anathema and Katatonia.
1. CORONER "Dissonance Theory"
https://coronerofficial.bandcamp.com/album/dissonance-theory-24-bit-hd-audio
An extremely well-refined and crafted comeback album that strikes with laser focus. I greatly enjoy the diversity of songs, the attention to detail in both songwriting and lyrics, and all the small twists that reveal themselves with each subsequent listen. Part of me wanted a bit more early experimentation, yet the band opted for focused songwriting and emotion through calculated precision, in this regard reminding of bands like Gojira or even Tool (not stylistically, but in terms of attention to detail). On the surface, it's a modern sounding thrash metal album that is an evolution from the groovier "Grin", incorporating faster and thrashy songs.